Deliverance

I’ve never seen a Burt Reynolds movie (RIP-- Yes, I know, I should watch Boogie Nights). So, when I read Deliverance* by James Dickey at work, all of my middle-aged coworkers crooned over Reynolds’ role in the film adaptation and I pretended to know what the heck they were talking about. Apparently, I’m the dumb dumb, because it earned several Oscar and Golden Globe nominations. And Burt looks like a boss.

Long story short: a group of four guys go on a canoe trip in remote Georgia and disaster strikes.

This novel so obviously checks every box for a good thriller, especially in the second half. As a book, it’s not as compelling as it could be. The suspense relies heavily on the readers’ ability to maintain a complex visual, and with the constantly shifting nature-scapes, I struggled. Instead of getting swept in the current of the plot, I fixated on the complicated minutia of the actual river where they canoed. I love being in nature and I recognize that it’s no easy task to successfully place a reader there. Still, if you can’t picture the most harrowing scenes, they don’t take an emotional toll.

The latter half is filled with adventure and the former is filled with philosophical discussions about survivalism. One of the guys in the crew (Reynolds’ character) devotes his life to preparing for any potential disaster, and he does so very obnoxiously. I would not be friends with this dude and I grew tired of his one-dimensional dialogue. I know that people like this exist, but is it really all they ever talk about? Is survivalism the same as Crossfit?

I appreciate the plot twist, especially because it caught me off guard despite knowing a plot twist would come eventually. I’m glad Dickey wrote this book because it deserved to be turned into a movie; but, in book form, I don’t recommend it. Deliverance receives 3 out of 5 camel humps.